Something More
by JesusLover13
Summary: It's been a year since Lyoko was shut down and Aelita is looking for something more in life. That's why she finds herself with Jeremy in a church one winter night. Will she be willing to forget about what everyone else thinks just to find what she's looking for, or will she decide to back down because of all of her fears?
1. One

**I've been wanting to write this fic for a while, but I didn't know where to start. So, this chapter worked itself out yesterday and I really enjoyed writing it! ^_^ This is my first ever multi-chapter Code Lyoko story that I've posted on fanfiction, so, I'm really excited about it. :)**

**And speaking of excitement, my sister (PartyMashedPotatoes) is going to be posting _her _Code Lyoko fanfiction sometime tonight, so keep an eye out for it. ;) I've read several chapters and it's really amazing. ^_^**

**I hope all of you enjoy this chapter! :)**

* * *

Odd Della Robbia looked up from his plate of mashed potatoes and spaghetti in time to see some of his best friends sit down with him at the table.

"Nice make up, Odd," Ulrich said with a roll of his eyes as he motioned to the mashed potatoes all over his roommate's face.

Odd wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll have you know that these are the best mashed potatoes yet!"

"So, that means you have to wear them?" asked Aelita, raising her eyebrows.

Odd sighed, shoveling some more spaghetti into his mouth. "You guys just wouldn't understand."

Jeremy smiled, turning to Aelita. "Do you wanna help me out with a program I've been working on for extra credit in Mrs. Hertz's class?"

Ever since Lyoko had been shut down, Jeremy had been diving further into his work with computers, as well as his schoolwork.

"Jeremy, you know as well as I do that you've already gotten more than enough extra credit in her class."

"Yeah, Einstein," Ulrich said. "I don't think there's anymore extra credit left for you."

Jeremy pushed his glasses up on his nose, looking indifferent. "Well, I-"

He was cut off by Odd, who had a wide grin spreading across his spaghetti-splattered face. "Einstein gets extra-extra credit!" he proclaimed, earning them a few curious stares.

"Shut up, Odd!" Jeremy hissed quietly, not really mad at his friend, but at all the attention they were getting. His face went bright pink.

Odd's lips twisted into a smirk when he realized what he could do with the situation. "Hey, Ulrich?" he said, with a normal volume this time.

"Hm?"

"Where's Yumi?"

Ulrich looked around the room, but didn't see her anywhere. His eyes finally resumed looking at Odd's face and his cheeks immediately went red. "Cut it out, Odd."

Odd's smirk turned into a grin. He was tired of their normal routines. And besides, a good practical joke would never hurt anyone.

He stood up on his chair and a few more heads turned in their direction. "My good buddy, Ulrich Stern, wants to announce to everyone that he's madly in love with Y-"

Before his friend could even finish, Ulrich was standing on his own chair, leaning across the table to place a hand over the blabber mouth's lips. "I said cut it out," he hissed through clenched teeth.

All eyes were definitely on them now. A few snickers could even be heard from a table near the back corner of the room.

Ulrich glared dangerously at Odd, silently warning him to keep his mouth shut. He slowly removed his hand from his friend's mouth. He didn't sit down yet, though - just in case.

"Yumi Ishiyama!" Odd shouted before Ulrich had the chance to do anything.

Yumi, who had just entered the cafeteria only seconds before, heard her name and looked up, confused. "Huh?"

The room erupted with giggles and a fit of laughter.

A few people noticed her and laughed even harder. "What's going on here?" she wondered aloud.

Ulrich's face turned twenty shades of red as he stared at his best friend in disbelief. Why would Odd want to embarrass him like that?

"Stern, Della Robbia!" barked Jim from across the room as he strode over to them. "Chairs are made to be sat on! Now stop acting like clowns and get down from there!"

Ulrich was pulled out of his confused thoughts when he heard Jim's loud voice. He looked around the room and finally noticed everyone laughing.

He slowly got down from his chair, blushing even more now. He took one last, spiteful glance at Odd before starting toward the exit where Yumi stood, still confused.

He stormed past her, shoving the door open and hurrying out of the lunch room.

This only made Yumi more confused. "Ulrich!" she called after him.

Nicholas was still laughing from his table with Sissi and Herb in the back of the room. He began to laugh even harder when he realized that Odd's exclamation had inspired him to make an even better one.

Herb would never be more embarrassed.

The blond tried not to smirk as he waited for the room's earlier laughter to subside.

Once the room was quiet enough, Nicholas suddenly stood and pushed his chair away from the table, glaring convincingly at Herb. "NO, Herb! I will NOT go out with you! For the last time, _stop asking me!_"

And with that, he turned on his heel and headed out of the cafeteria.

The room once again broke out with laughter and Herb's eyes were wide as he felt his face heat up. "What?" He sat there in humiliation for a moment. "No! H-He's lying! I never asked him out!"

Sissi giggled, standing up from where she'd been sitting next to him. "Sure, Herb." She flipped her hair and walked away.

"Sissi!" he called desperately. "Wait!"

* * *

An hour later, Jeremy and Aelita found themselves in Jeremy's room, separated from the chaos and drama that had planted itself in their day.

Jeremy immediately started babbling on and on about his program the moment they stepped through the door.

Aelita, however, was lost in thought about the events that had taken place during breakfast that morning. "It wasn't right of Odd to embarrass Ulrich like that," she said, interrupting whatever it was that Jeremy was saying.

Jeremy turned away from his computer screen at how troubled Aelita sounded. "No, it wasn't." He rolled his eyes. "But he is Odd and he thought it would be a good joke, I guess."

Aelita was quiet for a moment. "Jeremy?"

"Yes, Aelita?"

"Do you ever feel as if, even without Lyoko or returning to the past, we're still living days over again?" She paused. "It's like we do the same thing almost everyday."

Jeremy chuckled. "Of course we do, Aelita. It's called routine."

"But don't you ever wish there was something more?" Her green eyes stared hopefully into his blue ones. "Something more than just repeating everything over again every single day?"

Jeremy thought, placing a finger to his chin. "Well, yes," he replied. "But it's always been this way. What makes you want to change it now?"

"I just feel like something's missing," she explained softly.

Jeremy smiled, taking her hand. "Well, whatever it is, Aelita, we'll find it - together."

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading! Review if you like it, please! ^_^**


	2. Two

**Well, I finished this chapter the other day and wanted to post it as soon as possible. It's a lot longer than the last one, but I really enjoyed writing it! ^_^**

**I really hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope it blesses you. :)**

**Also, thanks a lot to Traveler7 for reviewing! :D I really appreciate it and I hope you like this chapter. ^_^**

**God bless all of you! :)**

* * *

"Odd, what's going on?" Yumi questioned firmly.

She had finally found him at dinner time, just before he headed to the cafeteria.

She'd grabbed him by the back of his shirt and now, he was at a loss for words as she glared down at him.

"Uh... what are you talking about, Yumi? Nothing's going on..."

She tightened her grip on his shirt. "Spit it out, Odd."

"Well..." Odd began slowly, "I kind of told the whole school that Ulrich's madly in love with you..."

Yumi's mouth came wide open and her face turned a scarlet color. "What?"

Odd looked at her. "Don't catch flies."

She closed her mouth, too surprised to be angry at him. "Is that why he's been avoiding me?"

Odd shrugged. "Probably."

Yumi loosened her grip on his shirt, lost in thought, and Odd took that as the opportunity to dart toward the lunch room.

"Yumi, maybe you should go talk to him or something!" the blond called over his shoulder.

She only stood there, wishing she knew if what Odd had announced to the cafeteria was true.

* * *

"Jeremy!" Aelita exclaimed, knocking on his bedroom door.

She knew that by being loud, there was a chance that Jim would catch her in the boys' dorm at such a late hour, but she couldn't help it - she was beyond excited.

"Jeremy!" she called again, knocking a bit harder.

Finally, the door came open and a tired Jeremy appeared in front of the pink haired girl.

She was quick to notice the keyboard marks on his forehead. He hadn't slept all night the night before, so she realized that it'd caught up with him.

"Aelita?" He rubbed his tired eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Get your coat. We have to go somewhere."

Jeremy was, of course, skeptical, but he didn't ask any questions - yet.

Three minutes later, they were walking out into the cold, winter air, making their way off campus.

"What if Jim sees us?" asked Jeremy, glancing over his shoulder for the fifth time.

"He won't," Aelita replied. "I asked Ulrich if he'd cover for you."

Jeremy nodded, waiting until they were a good distance awayfrom the campus to speak. "So... uh, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," Aelita told him, her eyes twinkling.

Jeremy smiled. Despite the fact he trusted her, he still felt uneasy about all this. It wasn't like Aelita to leave school, much less break any rules.

But she seemed excited, so, Jeremy forced himself to trust her judgment as he followed her down the street.

* * *

The boy genius shifted nervously in his seat. His once-freezing palms were now sweating as he scanned the room anxiously. "Aelita, are you sure we should be here?" he whispered.

Aelita smiled, meeting his eyes as she nodded eagerly. She couldn't even begin to explain how happy she was to be there. It was a nice change of environment. There were so many people, so many pews, so many interesting things.

"I can't believe we're at church," Jeremy went on.

"Well, I found this place today and since we were looking for something new to do..." she trailed off, staring at the bright, fancy chandelier overhead.

She, like Jeremy, had been apprehensive at first, but so far, she liked church a lot.

She'd seen several adults scattered around the room, but the majority of the crowd there were teenagers and people around her age.

For the first bit of the church service, the band had played a few songs that she didn't recognize. She enjoyed it nevertheless.

Jeremy, however, had looked nervous all night.

At one point, Aelita had wondered if he was going to be all right. He kept shifting in his seat as he glanced around the room. She also noticed that he was sweating and wondered if he was running a fever.

In fact, she was about to ask him why he was so uptight when the person on the other side of her handed her a basket.

She stared at it for a moment before looking inside. It was filled with money. Her mouth formed an "O" and she turned back to the person who'd given it to her. "Thank you!" she said. "But I can't-"

Jeremy leaned over, stopping Aelita in mid-sentence, "They're passing the basket." He gently took it out of her hands and handed it to the person on the other side of him.

"Then who's it for?" she whispered to him.

Jeremy answered, but she didn't hear him. All she heard was the giggles from the girls behind them.

She sunk down in her seat a bit as her face turned a bright red.

Jeremy ignored the girls and took Aelita's hand. She shouldn't be embarrassed and he wanted more than anything to make her feel better.

Even so, a thought rang in his head: _If this is how church people act, then what does that say about God?_

This was the exact reason he hadn't wanted to come back to a church. And now Aelita was experiencing almost the exact same thing he'd gone through so many years ago.

He shook his head, suddenly standing up. "Come on, Aelita. Let's go."

She looked up at him, actually debating on whether or not to leave.

But that's when all the lights went out and the stage lights came on.

This caught Aelita's interest and she tugged on Jeremy's arm so he'd sit down.

He reluctantly sat down on the comfy pew. Why did Aelita insist on staying at this place?

He looked at her. Her green eyes were staring ahead at the stage. She was so eager, so happy.

But what was the big deal?

The preacher would get up there, say bunch of Gibberish, tell people how terrible they were, and then everyone would go home.

That's how it always was, anyway.

Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest and slumped down in his seat. This was going to be a long night.

And he wanted nothing more than to go back to Kadic.

* * *

The ceiling had only been interesting for the first hour of Ulrich sulking in his room.

Now, it only reminded him that sitting in his room on a Friday night wasn't exactly fun.

He'd skipped dinner and avoided Odd all day.

Odd wasn't even back yet and it was already nine o'clock.

Maybe his best friend had gone to stay in Jeremy's room for the night to avoid him and his bad mood.

Kiwi walked over to Ulrich, jumping onto the bed and wagging his tail.

"At least you're not avoiding me," said Ulrich, sadly smiling as he petted the dog on the head.

The troubled teen stood up, deciding he'd go get a glass of water before it got too late.

He opened the door only to find Yumi standing there, her fist raised to knock on the now-open door.

"Yumi?" Ulrich's face went red. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," she answered before Kiwi began barking, excited to see her.

Ever since Kiwi had spent a day at the Ishiyama household, he had grown happier to see Yumi each time she showed up.

"Oh." Having forgotten all about the water the moment he saw Yumi, Ulrich sat back down on his bed.

Kiwi kept barking and Yumi shut the door so no one could hear him. She bent down and rubbed the dog, who quieted down, immediately content.

She glanced at her dark sleeve, which was now covered in white fur. "He's shedding."

"Yeah, he does that," Ulrich replied sourly as he motioned to his bed that almost looked like it had a white blanket covering it. Ulrich absolutely hated it, although Odd never seemed to mind.

_Of course._

"Odd told me what he said today." Yumi's voice broke through Ulrich's thoughts.

His eyebrow twitched and his face went red. "He did?"

"Yeah," she replied. "And just because he said that in front of the whole school, doesn't mean that you have to avoid me."

"I wasn't avoiding you," he lied.

She gave him a look that said she knew he wasn't being honest.

He looked away, suddenly very interested in his martial arts poster.

"Ulrich, you can't come here and sulk every time something bad happens," she told him. "Sure, what Odd did wasn't right, but sitting in here isn't solving anything."

She was right, but Ulrich wasn't about to admit it - not to her _or _himself.

His anger at Odd suddenly came back full-force and all he could do was think about how he and Yumi wouldn't even be having that conversation if it weren't for that big mouth of Odd's.

"What does this even have to do with you, Yumi?" he involuntarily snapped. Regretting it immediately, he quickly added, "I mean... it's Odd's fault..."

His soft voice after such a sharp comment caused Yumi even more frustration.

"I think it has everything to do with me, Ulrich," she replied firmly. "Either you like me or you don't. There's no in between anymore."

She stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to say something - _anything._

When he didn't, she only shot him one final glare before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

Ulrich, who was still in shock about what she'd said, finally came to his senses when he heard the door slam.

"Yumi, wait!"

In seconds, he was on his feet and hurrying after her.

* * *

"Well, unfortunately, this is the fifth and final night of our youth conference," said the preacher, a man named Perry Winston.

At twenty-eight, he was by far the youngest minister Jeremy had ever seen. He'd preached for over an hour and a half, but Jeremy had stubbornly tuned most of it out while Aelita held onto every word.

Finally, Jeremy sensed the sermon was coming to an end and he sat up a bit straighter.

"In closing," Perry went on, "I know some of you came here tonight feeling like you'd be judged, or like you're an outcast."

Jeremy finally looked up. Was the preacher talking about him? And if so, how did he know how Jeremy was feeling?

"Maybe you're feeling alone right now. Whatever it is, though, just forget about it."

Jeremy was confused. Wouldn't a preacher tell you that you _should _feel alone, because you're not worthy or something?

"You're not alone. You're not an outcast. You are loved. You are important. Jesus sees you as His beautiful creation. He doesn't want you to let circumstances or situations control how you see yourself."

Jeremy, for the first time in a while, was actually listening to a preacher.

Why was this guy saying those things? He probably didn't even know half the people in that room. So, why should he care?

"So tonight, when you go home, no matter what's going on in your life, thank God for loving you, for creating you. He doesn't make mistakes and He's always there when you need Him."

Jeremy glanced at Aelita, who was fully focused on what Perry was saying. She leaned forward in her seat a bit, paying close attention to everything being said.

And then, just as Jeremy looked back at the stage, Perry's eyes met his.

"And He doesn't want you to give up on Him."

Just as quickly as Perry's brown eyes had met Jeremy's blue ones, they looked away.

And Jeremy was left in awe and shock, feeling as if Perry had just read his mind.

He only sat there, frozen, until Aelita finally stood up.

Church was over now and everyone was filing out of the building. Voices suddenly rose up everywhere.

Jeremy noticed Aelita was saying something, but he could hardly hear her over all the talking.

"What?" he asked, standing up so he could hear her better.

"Let's go," she said, loud enough for him to hear.

He nodded and the two of them left the building in silence.

The street lights were the only things ighting the road. Everything was perfectly silent. No cars were driving by, no other people were close by, and the chattering voices had been left behind at the church.

Jeremy was still in shock, to say the least. He'd never been to a church service like that. He'd never heard a preacher say all those things.

It was certainly different, but it didn't make sense.

"Jeremy?"

He looked up at the sound of his best friend's voice. "Yes, Aelita?"

"What did that man mean when he said God created all of us?"

"Well," Jeremy began, "God is the one who made the universe. He made the earth, everything in it, and people." The blond pushed his glasses up his nose. "He did it in six days."

Aelita's eyes widened. "Everything? In six days?"

"Yep."

"That's not a very long time..."

Jeremy shrugged. He'd never seen that as an important detail, although he'd known for a long time that God created the world.

"So, He must be pretty old," Aelita commented, lost in thought.

Jeremy chuckled. "Kind of."

"I read about Christianity once when I was in the tower. I remember that God was mentioned, but I didn't find out too much about Him."

"Did you read anything about the Bible?"

"Well, no," she replied. "What's that?"

"It's the Lord's book. He wrote it."

"Who's the Lord?"

"God."

Aelita nodded, thinking. "Do you have a Bible, Jeremy?"

"I used to, when my dad wanted me to go to church with him, but I left it at home when I came to Kadic."

"Oh."

Both of them went silent after that.

Aelita was pondering God, the Bible, and Christianity while Jeremy pondered how different Perry's message was from any other message he'd ever heard.

"You know, Jeremy, the preacher said they have something called youth group on Wednesday nights. Maybe we should go."

"I don't know, Aelita. If Jim sees us, we could get in big-" He stopped when he glanced across the street to see Yumi and Ulrich standing in front of Yumi's house.

"Yumi, wait," Ulrich said.

Jeremy and Aelita stopped to see what was wrong.

"It's too late, Ulrich," Yumi replied angrily. "This has nothing to do with me, remember?" She stopped in front of the gate at her house, finally turning to face him.

Ulrich fumbled on his words for a bit before finally muttering, "That's not what I meant."

"Oh, really? Then what _did _you mean?"

Ulrich hung his head, wishing he could take it all back.

"I think you better-" Yumi began, but she was cut off by a window opening above them.

Hiroki leaned out of it. "Yumi, will you keep it down? _Some _of us are trying to-" He stopped when he saw Ulrich.

He looked from Ulrich to his older sister and back again before bursting into a fit of laughter. "Oh, Yumi! You're gonna be in sooo much trouble!" he said through the laughter.

"Shut up, Hiroki!" she hissed.

"What's going on?" came another sleepy voice from the other side of the window.

A tired Johnny slowly pulled himself over to his friend and looked out the window. He immediately spotted Ulrich and Yumi. Seeing Yumi with another boy, he sourly asked, "What's going on?"

"Yumi and _Ulrich _are sneaking out together!" Hiroki explained, still laughing.

Across the street, Jeremy and Aelita decided they'd head back to school since it was late already. Besides, they didn't want to be there when Yumi's parents woke up.

Yumi didn't even see Aelita or Jeremy, for she was too busy glaring at her little brother. "Quiet down, will you?"

"Why?" Hiroki asked, grinning. "So you and Ulrich can _kiss _in silence?"

"Shut up!"

Ulrich's face was turning five different shades of red as he stood there, wishing that night had turned out differently.

Hiroki was still howling with laughter and Yumi was growing more and more frustrated. She grabbed Ulrich's hand and turned to leave. "Fine, Hiroki. We're going to talk someplace else. Now, _shut up._"

Finally, the front door came open and Yumi's parents stepped outside, both of them wearing their pajamas.

They quickly took in the scene: Yumi and Ulrich outside, _holding hands, _alone, as Hiroki and Johnny leaned out of the upstairs window, probably waking up the whole neighborhood.

"Yumi," Mr. Ishiyama started, "come inside. You have some explaining to do."

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! Review if you like it! God bless! ^_^**


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